Floyd Mayweather, who has long been seen as the money man of the sport, is no longer there as the unbeaten American retired from the game despite a bizarre unofficial exhibition in Japan this year, which earned him $9 million.

Though Mayweather has gone, the sport has moved on and the new money men in combat sports include two hard-hitting heavyweights, two technically-adept middleweights, a UFC fighter, and a veteran of the game who continues to seek out the toughest of challenges.

Without further ado, here are the six best-paid fighters from the last 12 months, ranked in ascending order.

6: Middleweight boxing contender Gennady Golovkin made $25.5 million.

BusinessInsider USA Images

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

A 41-fight veteran, Gennady Golovkin, 37, has 35 knockouts from 39 wins against one loss and one draw.

The only blemishes on his record are to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, and it is likely a third fight will be booked in an attempt to conclude their gripping middleweight rivalry.

Conor McGregor is known around the world as a mixed martial artist, but Forbes says he is making an increasing amount of cash from his sponsorship deals and his whiskey business.

The Irishman is one of the fight game's most captivating characters because of his merciless trash talk, his showboating in the cage, and his concussive punching.

Last October, he returned to the Octagon for the first time in almost two years but was convincingly beaten by lightweight rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. He reportedly earned a guaranteed $3 million, according to Forbes, with an extra $30 million generated because of the event's popularity at the box office.

Joshua was a silver medalist at the World Amateur Championships in 2011, a gold medal winner at the 2012 Olympic Games, and the unified heavyweight boxing champion until earlier this month when he was upset in the seventh round of an up-and-down barnburner with Andy Ruiz Jr.

His popularity is what convinced the market-disrupting streaming service DAZN to pay $365 million for 11 of Alvarez's bouts, the first of which was an easy knockout win over Rocky Fielding, before a decision victory over Daniel Jacobs, last month.